Friday, September 23, 2016

Evicted from the rich people's campground

Rincon Parkway is a stretch of Highway 1 in Ventura County. It's an unusual "campground." A wide shoulder is marked off into sites. It's first-come-first-served and hard to get a spot. Some people stay the whole summer.

So, why would I want to camp in a quarter mile long row of RVs, with highways 1 and 101 and the railroad tracks at my back door? Because it's right by the ocean. And because I haven't stayed there before.

The problem is, the place is restricted to "self contained" RVs. You have to have a toilet and holding tank. (Hey, my bucket is a holding tank.) That means only actual RVs and travel trailers. That means only people who have the money for such things. I thought I'd give it a shot, though.

I had barely stopped (woo-hoo, a vacant space) when a county ranger told me I couldn't stay. She was nice about it, and admitted my bucket should fit the rules, and that RVs were harder on the environment, but she had to go by the book. Sigh.

There are two regular campgrounds at either end of Rincon Parkway, but they're always full, too, with long term RVers. That's part of what makes camping on the California coast difficult. And expensive. It is, after all, the place a lot of people want to be. Including me.

Faria Campground, run by Ventura County

So I'm spending the morning at the day use area, blogging and staring at the waves. Then I'm off to Burbank to spend the weekend with some old friends. Free. With no restrictions.

7 comments:

  1. I stayed there in 2012. I had a 1976 Toyota Coachman. None of the systems in it worked....but nobody asked :-) I had a porta potty. It was mesmerising to hear the waves all night long.

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    1. If I had said, "Oh yeah, I have a toilet and holding tank in there," she probably would have wanted to see it.

      The waves are a great sleep machine, until a big one collapses in the shallows, going BOOM!

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    2. My husband & I used to spend 2-3 days in that area, the waves were great, the air nice & kool, but I always felt a bit uneasy when the high tide arrived or when the news said there was a strong storm in the north Pacific. Never know they a big wave will wash into the Pacific Ocean!

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    3. Is that camping are for free NOW ? We used to pay for it, $20.00 pay day in the 80's.

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  2. You're in the land of money and snobs. Lord help them from putting in a few porta-potties and, maybe, parking meters to offset the cost. Might attract the "wrong sorts."

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  3. You're in the land of money and snobs. Lord help them from putting in a few porta-potties and, maybe, parking meters to offset the cost. Might attract the "wrong sorts."

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    1. Not everybody that camps there is wealthy & many of them are nice people as well ( just like every where else a mixture of all sorts is found ).

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